Interview techniques: Students in this grade cluster should be able to plan and conduct their interviews independently with some classroom instruction in advance. For this reason, these project ideas target content areas that may be covered from the Social Studies and Language Arts curriculum rather than specific questions. Students have the opportunity to gather information directly from knowledgeable individuals rather than from books alone, providing a more meaningful educational experience.

If practical, students should be encouraged to record their interviews using audio technology as an introduction to traditional oral history methodology. Schools could make inexpensive voice recorders available for student use. Training in the use of this equipment and transferring it to a computer could be provided by the school's media specialist, along with the use of software programs and digital photography. Many youth may already have some of these skills and their own equipment. A shortened presentation of the workshop section of this website, Learn how to conduct an oral history would provide a useful introduction to these techniques. This age group should be able to conduct a simple single-interview project, including background research, interviewee contact, question development, interview/conversation, collecting documentary materials, follow up and indexing, on their own.

Interview a state legislator, prosecutor, or police officer about the role of government in making and enforcing laws and regulations.	Interview an individual who was involved in the civil rights movement or someone who has advocated for the rights of minorities.
	Select a current political issue that is being debated locally or nationally. Create a questionnaire and interview family and neighbors about the issue.	Interview an older family member about their role in the family economy when they were a teenager.
Interview a representative of a business involved in international trade.	Interview a biologist, natural resources or wildlife expert about changes to the environment.
Interview a local small business owner about how government regulation and financial issues affect how their business is conducted.		Interview someone who has served in the military, worked in public service or someone who has served jury duty for an important or complicated trial.
	Analyze an interview from the Federal Writers Project's "Slave Narratives," one of the earliest forms of oral history.	Interview an adult about what characterizes "Delmarva" as a place or region.

Safety Note: Students in this grade cluster are more independent, have good communication and technology skills, and are capable of conducting a good interview on their own. Nevertheless, it is still advisable for teachers and parents to be involved in the child's contact with adults outside their immediate family. While interviews in public places are generally discouraged because of distractions and noise, these may be suitable meeting places for this age group if students plan to take notes instead of or in addition to a voice recording. Alternatively, a quiet but not isolated room in a library or at school may be a good choice for audio or video recording. Students also could conduct an interview at home with an adult present (but not participating) or an adult could travel to the interviewee's residence and provide supervision (without participating). Teachers should emphasize these safety points to students and parents as a part of any assignment to be completed outside of school.